Sweep puts Royals in wild card spot

Friday

Aug 8, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Bob BaumAssociated Press

PHOENIX – Jeremy Guthrie retired the final 19 batters in Kansas City's first complete game this season, and the Royals beat Arizona 6-2 on Thursday night for a three-game interleague sweep of the Diamondbacks.

Guthrie (8-9) allowed seven hits, struck out four and walked none in his eighth career complete game.

Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer and Alcides Escobar had a two-run single for the Royals, who have won four in a row and 12 of 15 to pull within 2 1/2 games of first-place Detroit in the AL Central and take over sole possession of the second AL wild card spot.

Vidal Nuno (2-8) lasted just four innings for Arizona, allowing five runs and seven hits. The left-hander is 0-3 with a 4.05 ERA in six starts since he was acquired in a trade with the Yankees that sent Brandon McCarthy to New York.

Billy Butler led off the second with a double to the left-field corner, and Gordon drove the next pitch from Nuno just inside the right-field foul pole for his 10th homer.

The Royals added two more in the third on Escobar's single. Nori Aoki and Omar Infante had consecutive one-out singles and advanced on a double steal to set up Escobar's hit.

Kansas City (60-53) moved seven games above .500, matching its season high. It went 5-1 on a trip to Oakland and Arizona and is 33-26 on the road this season.

The Royals have won five consecutive series.

Jake Lamb, called up from Triple-A Reno earlier in the day, got his first major league hit and RBI when he singled in a run for the Diamondbacks in the third inning. Guthrie retired every batter after that.

TRAINING ROOM

Royals: First baseman Eric Hosmer, on the 15-day disabled list since Saturday with a stress fracture of the third finger of his right hand, is to have no baseball activity for two weeks, then be re-evaluated.

Diamondbacks: Outfielder A.J. Pollock, out for two months with a broken right hand, is 2 for 13 (.154) with a double and a run scored in four rehab games with Triple-A Reno. ... Right-hander Daniel Hudson, recovering from a second Tommy John surgery, made his first rehab appearance Tuesday, allowing a run in one inning for the Diamondbacks' Arizona Rookie League team.

ON DECK

Royals: Kansas City opens a seven-game homestand against Bay Area foes, three against San Francisco and four against Oakland. A pair of left-handers go in the opener Friday night, Madison Bumgarner (13-8, 3.21 ERA) for San Francisco, Jason Vargas (8-5, 3.69 ERA) for the Royals.

Diamondbacks: Arizona wraps up a 10-game homestand with a three-game weekend series against Colorado, matching the bottom two teams in the NL West. In Friday night's series opener, the Diamondbacks go with right-hander Chase Anderson (6-4, 3.19 ERA) and the Rockies counter with lefty Tyler Matzek (2-6, 5.31 ERA).